(Xoth) Citadel Beyond the North Wind - Now Available!

[MongooseMatt]

The Spider God's Bride brought Morten Braten's epic sword & sorcery collection to the Legend RPG, and we have since published the second book in his saga, Song of the Beast-Gods. Now stand by for his third masterpiece, Citadel Beyond the North Wind!

This is a true sandbox setting set within the world of Xoth. Players will travel to a land far to the north, past the black hills of Lamu and beyond the frozen moors of Tharag Thule. It is a dreary land of mist and thunder, and the white people of Yg have dwelt there since ancient times. Across this land, on towering hilltops and beside fog-shrouded lakes, stand somber granite castles, and therein dwell the princelings and tyrants of Yg with their countless thralls and slaves and subjects. The free men of Yg tremble when fools dare to utter the name of Arkanth Mal, for he is the greatest and oldest of the tyrants of this primeval land. He is the witch-king of Galuga, grand master of necromancy and alchemy...

You can be among the first to grab a copy of Citadel Beyond the North Wind at;

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/1 ... te_id=7242

[The Wolf]

Niiiice

[warlock1971]

Just got mine, very excited about this!

[tarkhan bey]

Got it.

[Marlow Kurtz]

Me too. I don't have the PFRPG version of this none, so it's all new and exciting. More so. Well done Darren on such a speedy conversion.

[The Wolf]

It came just in time too, my word count has suffered thanks to slashing my left hand open recently - it's healing now but slowed me down whilst it does so.

Thanks for the support!

[Marlow Kurtz]

No magical healing in S&S.

[The Wolf]

One of the reasons I like the genre, generally focussed on low magic or magic which isn't flash and bang.

[Prime_Evil]

One of the reasons I like the genre, generally focussed on low magic or magic which isn't flash and bang.

There are examples of high-powered magic in Swords and Sorcery fiction, but they tend to be very rare. The earthquake that Xaltotun summons to destroy the Aquilonian army in Hour of the Dragon (aka Conan the Conqueror) is noteworthy precisely because it is a form of magic that hasn't been used since the fall of Acheron. Most of the magic in Swords and Sorcery fiction tends to revolve around summoning extraplanar entities - typically either demons of the outer dark or sanity-blasting Lovecraftian horrors from beyond space and time. The classic Elric stories certainly fit this pattern, although Moorcock introduced other forms of magic in later works.

[PeteN]

In further support of Prime Evil, here's a quick list which I originally posted over on RPGnet during a discussion about the prevalence and potency of 'true' magic in the original REH Conan stories. In my opinion, some of these effects are very ostentatious, at least visually...

There's the summoning of demons (in at least four stories). Telepathic reading of minds. Animation of a dead body to open a prison door. Deathless preservation of life, where a beheaded sorcerer's body stumbles in pursuit of his head. The (re)building of towers or cities in a single night. The shrinking doom of Yara. The three thousand year sleep of Thugra Khotan, though his wall of fire could possibly be explained by advanced chemistry, save for the magnitude of its effect. The transformational waters of the Pool of the Black One and the transmogrification of men into iron statues. A chasm full of rosy mist which arrests breathing, through which a single safe path perseveres. Full physical human to animal transformations (eagles, serpents, vultures). Yimsha's Carpet, the crimson cloud of rapid transportation which flies whirling through the air. The opening of a yawning crack in the earth with a single foot stamp. A similar shattering of of a teak & bronze door with a light touch. The drifting, rolling white puffballs of smoke which only trigger on contact with steel, rather than the ground and burn so hot it reduces a man to charred bones in an instant. Transforming an arrow (staff, belt etc) into a venomous serpent. The drawing of a man's heart out of his chest, bursting through his mail. Various domineering and psychic control of animals. The incredible illusions of Baal-pteor which go far beyond mesmerism. The raising of several long-dead sorcerers back from the grave. The projection of images in a mirror (or globe) when scrying. A conjured earthquake to swallow an army. The necromancy of the Black Hand of Set which slays with a single touch. The manipulation of weather (summoning of heavy rains or impenetrable fog). The striking down of Xaltotun by a beam of thunderous, blinding blue light. A bound demon of mist which guards pirates treasure. The spell of physical embodiment which made Ollam-onga mortal. The summoning of a 'god' down from the stars. The transferral of a man's soul into a snake... And I'm sure there are many others I cannot remember off hand.

[Prime_Evil]

I think when people say that Swords & Sorcery fiction is low-magic, they are comparing it to the assumptions built into D&D. Magic has become more and more commonplace in D&D from one edition to the next. The earliest versions were quite restrained in the amount of magical power they granted to characters, reflecting the fact that the authors had a deep love of swords and sorcery fiction - Gary Gygax repeatedly stated that he preferred Robert E. Howard, Michael Moorcock, and Fritz Lieber to the epic fantasy of J.R.R. Tolkien. But in subsequent editions this restraint has slowly broken down, with almost every village having a magic shop. The influence of Jack Vance in the D&D magic system is a complicating factor - the Dying Earth is not a low-magic world. In any case, I wonder if people think the Swords and Sorcery fiction is low-magic because it runs against the expectations built into D&D - they mean that magic is not common and not flashy, rather than not powerful. In particular, elemental magic such as fireballs and lightning bolts seem to be rare in Swords and Sorcery fiction.

[The Wolf]

That's literally what I mean when I say, not flash and bang. There are very few, if any fireball, meteor strike, lightning bolt and so-on spells in the S&S genre that I've seen. Yet the magic itself can be extremely ostentatious as PeteN points out in some of the literature.

[Hopeless]

I think when people say that Swords & Sorcery fiction is low-magic, they are comparing it to the assumptions built into D&D. Magic has become more and more commonplace in D&D from one edition to the next. The earliest versions were quite restrained in the amount of magical power they granted to characters, reflecting the fact that the authors had a deep love of swords and sorcery fiction - Gary Gygax repeatedly stated that he preferred Robert E. Howard, Michael Moorcock, and Fritz Lieber to the epic fantasy of J.R.R. Tolkien. But in subsequent editions this restraint has slowly broken down, with almost every village having a magic shop. The influence of Jack Vance in the D&D magic system is a complicating factor - the Dying Earth is not a low-magic world. In any case, I wonder if people think the Swords and Sorcery fiction is low-magic because it runs against the expectations built into D&D - they mean that magic is not common and not flashy, rather than not powerful. In particular, elemental magic such as fireballs and lightning bolts seem to be rare in Swords and Sorcery fiction.

Okay now you've got my interest!

[tarkhan bey]

Bought this last week. Finally, in between the vagaries of real life, I got to look through it. Once again, the Author really has captured the feel of SnS.

Well done Wolf on the conversion.

I look forward to reading your own SnS stuff, hopefully soon?

Meanwhile, Mongoose, it really would be a shame if the World of Xoth just stopped here. Please get in touch with the author and let him know that if he writes more stuff, we will buy it. Otherwise, an agreement with him to consider and potentially accept additional material from other writers to the Xoth canon would be excellent.

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

Just got back from a business trip and my first act? BUY THIS!

(done)

[Prime_Evil]

I also hope that Morten produces more Xoth material that can be converted to Legend. I like Pathfinder well enough, but feel that the d100 system is a better vehicle for Swords & Sorcery than the d20 system. Of course, the market for Pathfinder material is several orders of magnitude larger than the market for Legend / RQ6 / BRP material....

[The Wolf]

Well, if Morten writes more Xoth related adventures - you can bet I'll be there to convert em. If not, well there's always my own S&S stuff that could be converted to Legend down the line from 13th Age, which is even easier to convert to from Legend than PF.

[Prime_Evil]

Well, if Morten writes more Xoth related adventures - you can bet I'll be there to convert em. If not, well there's always my own S&S stuff that could be converted to Legend down the line from 13th Age, which is even easier to convert to from Legend than PF.

I'm still digesting the 13th Age core rulebook - it's an interesting take on the d20 system, but I'm not sure how well it will play yet.

[The Wolf]

I can only tell you from my perspective, watching the game grow from playtest 2 through to update v6 and the final-final.

I've found 13th Age has been a really solid system to run, and more importantly - work with as a GM and as a writer on my own things with it.

It has some very neat ideas which caught my eye and made it my d20 goto system of choice now.